Lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars



T. MADLAND 2,992,461

SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

- HTT'Y' l IIFEE dWZ/ THo/iv Lo Mama/v0 E 43% Q HV J? 3 9 2 Ne h lil 6 6 6 0 6) G G C) LIFTJfNG AND SLIDING DOORS OF RAILWAY BOX CARS lled. Aprll 30, 1959 July 18, 1961 July 18, 1961 T. MADLAND 2,992,461

LIFTING AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR SLIDING DOORS 0F RAILWAY BOX CARS Filed April 50, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l i l I m I l INVENTOR.

THOEVGLD M 04 6WD a r 2 992 461' UflltCd States Patent cc PM M38396,

nism embodying the instant invention, parts being broken 2,992,461 away.

LIFTING AND SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR SLIDING DOORS OF RAILWAY BOX CARS Thorvald Madland, Chicago, IlL, assignor to Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 810,091 6 Claims. (Cl. -22) This invention relates to lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars.

It is an object of this invention to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box oars embodying spring-controlled operating levers which shall utilize structurally simpler spring-mounting means permitting easier and more economical assembly, preventing distortion and wear of the springs and obtaining noiseless operation of the mechanism.

A further object is to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars embodying spring-controlled operating levers, roller housings and connecting bars which shall utilize spring-mounting means so associated with the roller housings and connecting bars as to simplify and reduce the amount of welding required to secure the mounting means to the connecting bars.

A further object is to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars embodying spring-controlled operating levers, roller housings and connecting bars wherein the roller housings shall be utilized to secure means for mounting the springs so as to reduce the welding required to secure the spring-mounting means to the connecting bars.

A further object is to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars embodying spring-controlled operating levers which shall utilize rectangular bars as mounting means for the springs.

A further object is to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars embodying spring-controlled operating levers, roller housings and connecting bars provided with elongated slots wherein the bars utilized to mount the lever controlling springs in the slots extend from end to end of the slots so as to reinforce the connecting bars.

A further object is to provide lever operated lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars which shall embody roller housings so related to the doors as to serve as stops for limiting lifting movement of the doors.

A further object is to provide lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars embodying spring-controlled operating levers and roller housings wherein the roller housings shall be so associated with the doors as to prevent the springs from going solid and to limit movement of the levers.

A further object is to provide lever operated lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars which shall embody roller housings so related to the doors as to prevent the doors from wearing away rollers carried by the roller housings.

A further object is to provide sliding doors for railway box cars and lifting and supporting mechanism therefor wherein the mechanism shall be so associated with the doors as to obviate the need for and the expense of copes heretofore required in the doors.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification;

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a portion of a railway box car and the lower portion of a sliding door mounted thereon and equipped with lifting and supporting mecha- FIG. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation showing the springmounting means on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing the door in lowered position.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section similar to FIG. 4 showing the door in raised position.

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 66 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings reference numeral 10 shows a portion of a side wall of a railway box car. The opening 11 customarily provided in each such side wall is adapted to be closed by means of a sliding lift door the lower portion 12 of which is fragmentarily illustrated. The door is adapted to be supported both frictionally and for anti-frictional movement upon a door track 13 supported by means of a plurality of spaced brackets 14 upon a side sill reinforcing member 15 of the railway box car. The structure of the side sill reinforcement rack and supporting brackets is conventional.

The construction of the door 12, except. as hereinafter described, is well known. It embodies the usual metallic corrugated panel 16 secured along its lower margin, as by means of a row of rivets 17, to a relatively sturdy bottom reinforcing plate 18. Below the lower edge of the metallic panel 16 the bottom reinforcing plate 18 is bent outwardly as indicated at 19, then downwardly as indicated at 20, then inwardly as shown at 21, and terminates in a short inner upstanding flange 22. A reinforcing plate 23 is secured as by means of welding upon the inside of the flange 22 and at its upper margin to the metallic panel 16 as by means of a row of rivets 24. The metallic panel 16, the bottom reinforcing plate 18 and the inner reinforcing plate'23 therefor cooperate to provide a box section with which lifting and supporting mechanism for the door is housed.

As clearly illustrated in the drawings the inwardly extending flange 21 of the bottom reinforcing plate serves to support the door frictionally upon the track 13 when the door is lowered.

The lifting and supporting mechanism for raising the door and supporting it upon anti-frictional means for movement between open and closed positions embodies an actuating member 25 journalled in a bracket member 26 secured in any desired manner to the inside of the reinforcing plate 23 and in the bottom reinforcing plate 18 through which it projects as shown more clearly in FIG. 4 of the drawings. An operating lever 27 is mounted upon the projecting portion of the actuating member 25 upon the outside of the door and is secured to the projection prefenably by means of welding. A quadrant 28, preferably riveted upon the outside of the panel 16 serves to guide and retain the lever 27 upon the door by overlapping cooperation with a lip 29 secured upon the inside face of the lever.

The actuating member 25 is pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of connecting bars 30 and 3 1 by means of lugs 32 and 33 formed on the actuating member and extending through alined openings in the adjacent ends of the connecting bars. As shown in FIG. l of the drawings the actuating member and its operating lever are disposed adjacent to the lower edge of the door and along the vertical center line of the door.

The remote ends of the connecting bars 30 and 31 are secured to roller housings 34 in the manner more clearly shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Each roller housing is formed of a pair of plate members 35 and 36 the preferably by means of rivets 39.

3 I outer portions of which are spaced apart as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings to receive main and auxiliary rollers 37 and 38 rotatably mounted between the plate members. The inner portions of the plate members 35 and 36 lie upon opposite sides of the adjacent ends of the connecting bars 30 and 31 and are secured thereto As shown more clearly in FIG. 1 of the drawings the main rollers are in engagement with the door track 13, this engagement being obtained by providing slots 40 in the inwardly extending horizontal flange 2d of the bottom reinforcing plate member 18. The auxiliary rollers 38 bear against the underside of the heads 41 of inverted T-shaped members 42 which are secured preferably by means of welding to the bottom reinforcing plate member 18 as shown more clearly in FIG. 1 of the drawings. It will be observed from this figure also that the heads of the inverted T-members 42 converge downwardly toward the vertical center line of the door.

In lowered position the door is frictionally supported upon the track 13. When it is desired to move the door upon the track the operating lever 27 is grasped and swung in the direction in which the door is to be moved. The resulting swinging movement of the actuating member 25 causes the connecting bars 30 and 31 to move longitudinally relative to the door toward each other. This produces a rolling movement of the main rollers 37 upon the track toward each other and a corresponding move ment of the auxiliary rollers 38 toward each other. A thrust is thereby exerted upon the inverted T-shaped members 42 which causes the door to raise and to be supported upon the rollers. Upon release of the operating lever 27 the weight of the door causes it to lower until it is again frictionally supported upon the track.

In the lowered position of the door it is desired that the operating lever 27 be in the vertical position illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Coiled springs 43 are utilized for this purpose. In accordance with the instant invention the remote ends of the connecting bars 30 and 31 adjacent to the roller housings 34 are provided with substantially rectangular slots 44. The ends of each of the slots 44 are reduced in width as indicated at 45 so as to neatly receive the ends of spring-mounting bars 46 which accordingly extend from end to end of the slots and reinforce the connecting bars where the slots occur. As shown more clearly in FIG. 3 of the drawings the adjacent ends of the mounting bars 46 which are preferably rectangular in section and of a thickness equal to the thickness of the connecting bars are welded to the connecting bars. The remote ends of the spring-mounting bars extend between the adjacent ends of the roller housing plate members 35 and 36 and are gripped by these plate members so as to be frictionally retained in position. The coiled springs 43 are disposed within the slots 44 in the connecting bars with their remote ends bearing against the adjacent edges of the roller housing plate members. The adjacent ends of the coiled springs 43 bear against the inwardly extending legs 47 of abutment angles 48 secured to the bottom reinforcing plate 18 as by means of rivets 49. The inwardly extending legs 47 are slotted as shown at 50 to permit passage of the connecting bars 30 and 31 and the adjacent ends of the spring mounting bars 46. The vertical position of the operating lever 27 is insured by the hereinabove described structure which at the same time permits full utilization of the coiled springs without impairing the strength of the connecting bars upon which they are mounted.

With particular reference to FIG. 4 of the drawings, it will be observed that the instant invention disposes the roller housings between the outer vertically extending portion 20 and the inner upstanding flange 22 of the bottom reinforcing plate. Accordingly the plate member 35 of each roller housing lies in laterally overlapping relationship with the short upstanding flange 22 of the bottom reinforcing plate. This relationship eliminates the gouging away of the inner face of the rollers 37 as the door moves along the track which occurred with similar mechanisms heretofore used. Moreover, the indicated relationship makes possible the preservation of the integrity of the short upstanding flange 22 which heretofore had to be coped in order to realize raising of the door upon operation of the mechanism.

With further reference to FIG. 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the slots 40 formed in the horizontal flange 21 of the bottom reinforcing plate are offset toward the inner reinforcing plate 23. As a result of this offset the outer plate member 36 of the roller housings lie directly above a portion of the flange 21. This relationship is utilized by the instant invention to limit the raising movement of the door on operation of the mechanism, this occurring upon contact between the lower edge of the plate 36 and the flange 21 as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings. Stop means heretofore required on the guide and retaining quadrant 28 in order to limit swinging movement of the operating lever 27 and raising of the door is now eliminated. Moreover, the noted engagement between plate member 36 of the roller housings and horizontal flange 21 serves to limit the compression of the coiled springs 43 thereby preventing their going solid.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In lifting and supporting mechanism for sliding doors of railway box cars having actuating means, a substantially vertical lever for operating the actuating means and roller housings on opposite sides of the actuating means formed of pairs of plate members secured together and carrying rollers, connecting means movable longitudinally relative to the doors and operatively associated with said actuating means, said connecting means extending between and being secured to said pairs of plate members, said connecting means having elongated slots therein, the remote ends of the slots lying between said pairs of plate members, separate bars of less width than the elongated slots extending uninterruptedly between the ends of the slots, the remote ends of said bars lying between and being frictionally gripped by said pairs of plate members, weld material securing the adjacent ends of said bars to said connecting means, and coiled springs mounted upon said bars.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 wherein said bars have the same thickness as said connecting means.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 wherein the ends of said elongated slots are reduced in width to substantially the width of said bars.

4. The structure set forth in claim 1 wherein the con necting means comprises a plurality of bars whose adjacent ends are pivotally connected to said actuating means and whose remote ends lie between and are secured to said pairs of plate members.

5. In a sliding lift door for railway box cars comprising a metallic panel, a bottom box section including a plate member having a horizontal door suppporting flange provided with slots and a vertical flange extending upwardly from said horizontal flange within said box section, lifting and supporting mechanism for said door, said mechanism including spaced roller housings disposed in said box section, said housings carrying rollers, and having a first position relative to the door with the rollers in the slots and a second position relative to the door with the rollers projecting through the slots, said roller housings lying inwardly of and in lateral overlapping relationship with said vertical flange when said roller housings are in said first position.

6. In a sliding lift door for railway box cars comprising a metallic panel, a bottom box section including a plate member having a horizontal door supporting flange provided with slots and a vertical flange extending upwardly from said horizontal flange within said box section, lifting and supporting mechanism for said door, said mechanism including spaced roller housings disposed in said box section, said housings carrying rollers and having a first position relative to the door with the rollers in the slots and a second position relative to the door with the rollers projecting through the slots, said roller housing lying inwardly of and in lateral overlapping relationship with said vertical flange when said roller housings are in said first position, said roller housings engaging said horizontal door supporting flange when said door is raised to limit raising movement thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,475,507 Madland July 5, 1949 2,682,075 Dietrichson June 29, 1954 2,682,076 Christensen June 29, 1954 2,902,122 Beauchamp Sept. 1, 1959 

